A Brief Chronology of Dance History in Brazil

A Brief Chronology of Dance History in Brazil

Artists, Events and Cultural Policy |  Christine Greiner

A fala de Christine, Nayse e Marcelo fez parte da programação do Kyoto Experiment (+) . Aqui um recorte da  duas ultimas décadas, uma breve topografia do período em que grande parte de nós (pelo menos os de 30)  começou a trabalhar. O Núcleo é citado no ano de 2006.

Years 1990 an 2000

The Consolidacion of Contemporany Dance Experiences and the Creation of Major Events and dance Festival in the Country

1990 > The Sarney Law to encourage culture is suspended during the Collor government (1990-1992). At this time the Ministry of Culture is transformed into a Departament linked to the president. In 1992, President Itamar Franco reverses the situation.

1990 > Debut of the event “Movimentos de Dança do SESC (Dance Movements of SESC), which features independent choreographers.

1991> The Rouanet Law (Cultural Incentive Federal law #8313/91) is created. It is today one of the main instruments for the financing of cultural projects in Brazil. The program works in two ways: through the FNC – Fundo nacional de Cultura (National Culture Found) and Patronage. The FNC provides resources for cultural projects from reimbursable loans with funds from The National Treasury or donations from public or privat nonprofit institutions. The Patronage allows up to 100% exemption from income tax for investors to support cultural projects in the form of donation or sponsorship.

1991> Start of the Festival Panorama de Dança in Rio de Janeiro, conceived and organized by choreographer Lia Rodrigues.

1993> Start of the Movimento Teatro-Dança(MTD), through which artists in São Paulo come together to strengthen indepent dance endeavors.

1994> Debut of the Group Cena 11 in Florianópolis with the choreography “Respostas sobre a Dor (Answer about Pain)”by Alejandro Ahmed. This contemporary dance group will give visibility to the dance production of Santa Catarina, hitherto little known in the country.

1995> Establishment of the Cooperativa dos bailarinos Coreógrafos (Ballet Choreographers Cooperative) in São Paulo.

1996 – Debut of FID in Belo Horizonte, initially called Festival Internacional de Dança and, later, Fórum Internacional de Dança. This event transforms the dance production of Minas Gerais, encouraging new artists and promoting foruns for dicussions with artists and researchers from Brazil and other countries.

1997> Begins the Bienal de Dança in Fortaleza, which will be an important center of the region.

1999> Start of the project Rumos Itaú Cultural Dança. It is part of the project the organization a database with information on the state of the art of dance in the country (major companies and dance groups, universities, research centers, artists, events, festivals, etc), support for research and creation of performances, presentations, seminars, workshops and publications.

1999> Establishment of 10 undergraduate dance courses.

2003> Birth of the PPC – Programa Petrobrás Cultural, with the proposal to address Brazilian culture in it many manifestions. One of the main methods for the selection of projects is the public selection.

2003> Hoffmann House in Curitiba is transformed into the Centro de Estudos do Movimento (Movement Study Center) with support from City Hall. It offers courses, scholarship and space for shows. One of the most important developments of this initiative was the creation of Couve-flor – Minecomunidade Artística Mundial. It is a collective, with a varying number of members, created by independent artists in the city of Curitiba, that begins to present their work in 2005.

2003 > Nayse Lopes created the online magazine idança, that from 20o6 on has been financially subside by Petrobrás. It is one of the main vehicles of information about dance in Brazil.

2004 > Choreographer Lia Rodrigues carries the main office of her dance company to the Centro de Artes da Favela da Maré (Favela da Maré Arts Center), creating a pioneering artistic action by not configuring the company as a community service.

2004 > Start of the Project Recordança, rescuing the history of dance in Pernambuco.

2005> Begining of the festival circuit between FID (Belo Horizonte), Panorama da Dança (Rio de Janeiro), Festival de Recife e Bienal de Dança de Fortaleza, with support from Petrobrás. The project  entitled Colabortório is a choreographic residency project that aims as the exchange of artists from Brazil, with Latin American countries and Europe. The proposal is to create transit between the different events, bringing together two capitals in the northeast and two in the southeast.

2005 > Fernando Haddad takes over the Ministry of Education in the government of Presidente Lula and revitalizes public universities throughout the country, especilly in the north and northeast.  Dance and theater courses prosper, with the construction of theaters and qualificatory programs for teachers.

2006 > Marcelo Evelin creates the Núcleo do Dirceu in Teresina. It is a collective of independent artists, a  platform for research and development of Contemporary Performing Arts.

2006 > Start of the Observatório Cultural do Instituto Itaú (Itaú Institute Cultural Observatory) to reflect about culture and subsidize the development of pluralistic policies through dialogues between Brazilian and foreign specialists, The program organizes meetings, publications and projects, some of them in partnership with other institutions. The goal is to develop, organize and disseminate cultural statistics; the study of cultural practices; the promotion of analysis and the identification of new possibilities in the operation of the sector in Brazil.

2010 > Established the PNC – Plano Nacional de Cultura (National Culture Plan) by Law #12,343. It consists of a set of guidelines, strategies and actions that will guide cultural policy for a period of 10 years. It was the result of the systematization of proposals drawn up by conducting research, studies,debates and meetings such as the Conferências Nacionais de Cultura (National Cultural Conferences), sectoral, chambers, forums and seminars.

2010> Launched the Fundo ProCultura by the Ministry of Culture, through the Departament of Promotion and Incentive to Culture and by Funarte. The Program includes, among other areas, circus, dance, theater, visual arts and music. In total, $300 milion will be spent in eigth sectoral funds: Diversity and Access; Transversal Actions and Equalization of Cultural Politics, Visual Arts, Circus, Dance and Theatre; Audiovisual Innovation  Incentive, Book, Reading, Portuguese Language and Literature, Music; Heritage and Memory.

The funds the performing arts, visual arts and music received a total investment of R$48 million. The funds come from the FNC – Fundo Nacional da Cultura, consisting of funds intended only for the execution of programs, projects or cultural activities.

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